Thursday, July 22, 2010

As someone who writes for a living, I have opinions about punctuation.

I won't claim that they are the most knowledgeable opinions. Sometimes I'm unsure whether a comma or a semi-colon is called for. I use punctuation more because it "feels" right than because it fits within the rules set for by Strunk and White. That must be the creative side of me leaking out.

For a long time, I had a love affair with the ellipses. You know, those three cute little dots that allow a thought to linger. . . I still find the ellipses enjoyable, but don't use them as often as I once did.

The dash -- can't remember if it's technically an em dash or an en dash and I don't really care -- also has a place in my compositional heart. It lets me interrupt myself, which is something I do frequently when I'm talking.

As an editor trying clean up other people's writing, the bane of my existence has always been the exclamation point. Do we really need to make that many exclamations? And even if the situation calls for a statement to be delivered with that much enthusiasm or emphasis, in my mind there is never an excuse for the mulitple exclamations. Seeing !!!!!! in a letter or article just makes my skin crawl.

A strange thing happened, however. I started blogging and I started finding myself using the exclamation point more freely -- though never in multiples. What's more, I use it in combination with the question mark on a fairly regular basis. How crazy is that?!

Do other people think about punctuation like I do? Obviously some must because the book Eats, Shoots & Leaves was popular enough to make it to the book section of Costco. (Strangely, I've never read it. ) And way before Lynn Truss turned her frustration with punctuational ignorance into a best-seller, Schoolhouse Rock addressed the use of punctuation in the context of catchy grammar lessons.

Do you have a favorite piece of punctuation? Or are you like E.E. Cummings, who felt that punctuation was optional?

I am really bad with punctuation and grammar. I love writing, but I am not good with punctuation!

My favorite piece of punctuation is the exclamation mark. I try not to use it too frequently in my creative writing, I use it a lot in blog posts and facebook statuses and comments. It's how I think my sentence would end if I were speaking out loud. I'm just very happy and excited!

As I read this, I kept thinking that you and I must be far more alike than we realize! (Yep, used the exclamation point.) I, too, have had love affairs (mine still ongoing) with ellipses and I'm obviously fond of the parentheses as both of my voices need to share their minds.

I just finished a grammar course called "Fundamentals of English: Grammar and Editing". I did very well in the course getting a 99% on the exam and a 94% final grade. On the downside, I now notice, and am distracted by, grammatical errors. LOL. I enjoyed the course though. It was fun and refreshed my grade school teachings. :)